Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Engineering alumna works on international projects

Abby Virag spends her days as a mechanical engineer working on projects ranging from New York City’s subways to transit systems for major airports in Saudi Arabia.Point Park alumna had the opportunity to explore different fields in engineering since her 2007 graduation. Now, she is excelling as an engineer for the mass transit company Bombardier Transportation at its Pittsburgh location.”I like that it’s always a little bit of a challenge,” said Virag of her engineering career in a phone interview last Thursday. “I get to be creative…whenever we’re trying to come up with a new concept or new design. We get to throw our ideas out there, do some brainstorming and hopefully eventually come up with the best conclusion.”But before Virag became a professional working for an international engineering company, she started out as a girl from White Oak, Pa., with a love of science.Growing up, Virag participated in cheerleading, softball and swim team. Her favorite subject in school was physics, and she knew she wanted to pursue a career in either architecture or engineering from a young age.She participated in several shadowing and apprenticeship programs as a McKeesport High School student —one of which was at Bombardier Transportation, her future employer —to see what field was the best fit.”After I got to spend some time with a few professionals in each of the fields, I decided by about the end of my junior year that I definitely wanted to lean toward engineering,” Virag said. “I kind of always knew I wanted to do it, but that’s when I really confirmed that that was the plan.”With her decision made, Virag decided to attend the University to major in mechanical engineering technology because of its convenient location, small class sizes and flexible scheduling options.She credits the program in the University’s School of Arts and Sciences with preparing her for a career in engineering.”I definitely think that our labs being very hands-on and the small classes gave us all the opportunity to really work on the things that we were assigned to. We were all applying what we learned,” Virag said. “We weren’t just watching examples of it being done; we got to do all of the steps in all of the labs and all of the projects.”In the summer of 2005, Virag began interning with Mitsubishi Power Electric Products. What was originally meant to be a three-month internship turned into a co-op that eventually turned into her first full-time job after graduation in 2007.As an engineer for Mitsubishi, she had the opportunity to travel to southern California, Massachusetts and Florida, as well as international locations like Canada and Japan as a member of different project teams. After a few years, Virag decided to make a change and began working for Bombardier Transportation.Bombardier, an international mass transit company, designs, builds and tests transit vehicles like subways and people movers. As a mechanical engineer in the company’s propulsion and controls group, Virag works as part of a team on the design and engineering that go into the mass transportation systems that are used all over the world.”On any given day, we’re planning on designs, creating drawings, checking drawings, reviewing technical specs and making sure that we’re applying our designs to meet the specifications for the customers,” Virag said. “We occasionally get to spend a little bit of time on the shop floor during the assembly of the equipment that we’ve worked on the design for.”She has worked on the propulsion system for a people mover for an airport in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. Currently, Virag is working on projects for the New York subway system and a SkyTrain rapid transit system in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Virag enjoys the daily challenges in her career that keep things interesting, and she hopes to continue to gain experience and knowledge as a mechanical engineer working on transit systems.”I’m really just trying to become more of an expert in the field that I’m in right now,” Virag said. “Out of our group here at Bombardier Pittsburgh, a lot of people have been around for a long time, and I really just want to know at some point what they know and be able to apply that like they can.”In her spare time, Virag works with McKeesport’s First Robotics Team and coaches the high school’s cheerleading squad with her younger sister, Kiley Virag.The sisters coach two squads —a cheer and dance team and a competition team —year round, and prepare them to cheer at sporting events as well as competitions around the country.”[Abby Virag] is definitely a good leader. The girls look up to her,” said Kiley Virag in a phone interview on Monday. “We have a lot of girls ask us about colleges and school things. So it’s not only a coaching aspect, it’s also more like mentoring.”The professional successes of Point Park alumni are encouraging for current students like senior Greg Harbison, who is double majoring in electrical engineering technology and mechanical engineering technology and will graduate in fall 2014.Harbison can relate to Virag’s positive experiences as an engineering student at Point Park with the small class sizes, internship opportunities and helpful professors.”As a current engineering student, it’s very encouraging to hear that Abby [Virag] is doing so well,” Harbison said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “Stories like hers help alleviate some of the stress of being an engineering student. It’s reassuring to know that all the hard work I’m putting into my schooling now will pay off in the end.”Harbison thinks the successes of former Point Park students are a tribute to the University’s engineering programs.”There are a lot of bigger universities in Pittsburgh, so Point Park isn’t really as well known for its engineering department,” Harbison said. “But Point Park does a really good job bringing in great professors, and every year the engineering department is becoming a better program.”

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